under the auspices of h.e. the president of the hellenic ... › meetings ›...

Under the Auspices of H.E. the President of the Hellenic Republic

Mr. Prokopios Pavlopoulos

XVI OPTIMA Meeting

ABSTRACTS

2-5 October 2019 Agricultural University of Athens, Greece

Organized by: ✓ OPTIMA (Organization for the Phyto-Taxonomic Investigation of the

Mediterranean Area)

✓ Agricultural University of Athens

OPTIMA (Organization for the Phyto-Taxonomic Investigation of the

Mediterranean Area)

XVI OPTIMA Meeting

2-5 October 2019, Agricultural University of Athens, Greece

Abstracts

Oral Presentations, E-posters

Editors: Pepy Bareka, Gianniantonio Domina & Georgia Kamari

Technical editing: Pepy Bareka, Sofia Samaropoulou

Front Cover Photo: Sternbergia lutea (L.) Spreng.

Back Cover Photo: Acis ionica Bareka, Kamari & Phitos

Photo credits: Sofia Samaropoulou

Cover design: Good Work Team

The contents of the abstracts are the sole responsibility of the authors and publication shall not

imply the concurrence of the editors or publisher.

October 2019

Copyright © OPTIMA 2019

Edited by OPTIMA – Organization for the Phyto-taxonomic investigation of the Mediterranean

area, Palermo, Italy

ISBN: 978-88-943667-1-6

http://portal.cybertaxonomy.org/flora-greece/cdm_dataportal/taxon/5b757c78-fad5-438b-932f-b6c33b3ab132

Scientific Committee

Dimitrios Phitos (President), Greece

Georgia Kamari (Secretary), Greece

Pepy Bareka, Greece

Magda Bou-Dagher Kharrat, Lebanon

Ana Rosa Burgaz, Spain

Kemal Husnu Can Baser, Turkey

Theophanis Constantinidis, Greece

Gianniantonio Domina, Italy

Werner Greuter, Italy

Vernon H. Heywood, U.K.

Stephen L. Jury, U.K.

Stella Kokkini, Greece

Dimitris Koureas, The Netherlands

Anna Maria Mannino, Italy

Karol Marhold, Slovak Republic

Frédéric Médail, France

Christof Oberprieler, Germany

Sotiris Orphanidis, Greece

Lorenzo Peruzzi, Italy

Francesco Maria Raimondo, Italy

Sonja Siljak-Yakovlev, France

Panagiotis Trigas, Greece

Benito Valdés, Spain

Olja Vasic, Republic of Serbia

Ernst Vitek, Austria

Giuseppe Venturella, Italy

George Zervakis, Greece

Nikolaos Zouros, Greece

Organizing Committee

Pepy Bareka (President), Greece

Gianniantonio Domina (Secretary), Italy

Georgia Kamari (Vice-President), Greece

Dimitrios Bouranis, Greece

Stella Kokkini, Greece

Stergios Pirintsos, Greece

Sofia Samaropoulou (Secretariat), Greece

2-5 October 2019, Agricultural University of Athens

5

XVI OPTIMA Meeting

Scientific Programme Tuesday, 1 October 2019

10.30 Meetings of the OPTIMA Commissions (restricted).

Wednesday, 2 October 2019

9.30

Meetings of Executive Council & International Board of OPTIMA

9.30 Registration of the participants. The Registration desk will remain

open as per official programme timings throughout the entire meeting.

11.30 Opening Ceremony and Plenary Lecture

Dimitrios Phitos

The evolutionary course of Botanical science in Greece from

Theophrastus to the present day.

13.00 Welcome lunch

Symposium 1 – Hall 1

Geoparks and Protected areas of Greece

Organizers: Georgia Kamari & Nikolaos Zouros

14.30

Zouros N. (Keynote presentation): The Global Geoparks Network.

Fassoulas Ch., Pattakos D. & Perakis E.: The Cretan Geoparks, synergies

and actions for local sustainable development.

Liapi E. & Iliopoulos G.: The paleoflora of Chelmos-Vouraikos Unesco

Global Geopark: A geological and palaeobotanical heritage.

Coffee break

Kontaxi Ch., Dalaka A. & Alvanopoulos G.: Protection and management

of natural environment in Greece.

Kamari G., Mitsainas G. & Xanthakis M.: A successful example in the

management of protected areas in Greece: The National Park of Mt.

Aenos.

Phitos D., Kamari G. & Bareka P.: Red Data Books as valuable tools for

the conservation of plant biodiversity in Protected Areas.


6 XVI OPTIMA Meeting


Fungal diversity in the Mediterranean area:

recent advances and future prospects

Organizers: Giuseppe Venturella & George Zervakis

14.30

Mello A. (invited lecture): Advances in the identification of ectomycorrhizal

fungi - insights on their biological and ecological aspect. Zambonelli A., Iotti M. & Hall I. (invited lecture): Diversity of the genus

Tuber in the wider Mediterranean Area and prospects for the commercial exploitation of selected truffle species.

Venturella G., Ferraro V. & Gargano M. L.: Biodiversity, conservation and exploitation of medicinal mushrooms in Italy.

Coffee break Lewinsohn D.: The unique mycobiota of the Negev desert in Israel.

Leonardi M., Comandini O. & Rinaldi A. C.: Halimium and associated mycobionts: a new look at Mediterranean ectomycorrhizal communities.

Polemis E., Daskalopoulos V., Fryssouli V. & Zervakis G. I.: Inventory of macrofungi associated with Alnus glutinosa (priority habitat 91E0) from Andros island, Greece.

Discussion DIRFIS MUSHROOMS: Let’s taste the mushroom diversity.


Advances in lichen diversity in the Mediterranean region

Organizer: Ana Rosa Burgaz

14.30

Guttová A., Slovák M., Kučera J., Senko D., Vďačný P., Zozomová-

Lihová J., Melichárková A. & Fačkovcová Z.: Revealeaning evolution, biogeography and ecology of Mediterranean centred genus Solenopsora: An integrative approach.

Burgaz A. R., Gutiérrez-Larruga B., Rodríguez-Arribas C. & Pino-Bodas R.: The genus Cladonia in Greece.

Llop E.: Lichen diversity from the Sicoric territory, continental Western Mediterranean region.

Coffee break Sohrabi M.: Iranian Lichenology: Progress and Problems.

Pino-Bodas R., Gargiulo R., Cano E. & Burgaz A. R.: Assessing the genome wide RAD sequencing method to address the species delimitation in the genus Cladonia (Cladoniaceae, Ascomycota).

18.00 Welcome Cocktail

mailto:[email protected]


7

XVI OPTIMA Meeting

Thursday, 3 October 2019


History of early botanical exploration in the Mediterranean

Organizers: Werner Greuter & Vernon H. Heywood

9.30

Bueno A. G. & Heywood V. H.: Early botanical exploration of Spain.

Valdés Castrillón B.: Early botanical exploration of the Maghreb

countries.

Raimondo F. M., Camarda I. & Lucchese F.: Early botanical exploration

of Italy.

Coffee break

Coffee break

Lack W. H.: Early botanical exploration of the southern Balkans,

Anatolia, and Caucasia.

Al-Zein M.: Early botanical exploration of the Levant and Egypt.

Leschner H.: The Big Bang - botanical investigation of the Middle East

during 1900-1960.


Mediterranean algal diversity: Past, Present and Future

Organizers: Anna Maria Mannino & Sotiris Orfanidis

9:30

Boudouresque C.-F., Blanfuné A., Perret-Boudouresque M., Ruitton S. & Thibaut Th.: Extinction of Mediterranean macrophyte taxa: local extinctions and functional extinctions matter.

Rodríguez-Prieto C.: Past, present and future of Gigartinales and

Cryptonemiales sensu lato.

Rindi F.: Diversity of Mediterranean coralline algae: recent

advancements in the knowledge of a highly threatened group of

seaweeds.

Coffee break

Coffee break

Panayotidis P. & Tsiamis K.: Diversity and ecology of macroalgae in Eastern Mediterranean.

Kooistra W. H. C. F., Gaonkar C. C., Montresor M., Piredda R., Sarno D.

& Zingone A.: Species diversity and seasonality in the marine

planktonic diatom Chaetoceros assessed by means of metabarcoding.

12.30 Light lunch

mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]




Plant diversity and evolution in polyploid, dysploid, and

hybrid complexes of the Mediterranean flora

Organizers: Lorenzo Peruzzi & Sonja Siljak-Yakovlev

14.00 Introduction Nemati Z., Harpke D. & Blattner F. R.: Greece, Home of Saffron –

Progenitor, areas and consequences of triploidy. Astuti G., Liu L., Coppi A. & Peruzzi L.: Different chromosome numbers,

but slight morphological differentiation and genetic admixture among populations of Pulmonaria hirta complex.

Coffee break

Coffee break

Farhat P., Bou Dagher - Kharrat M., Adams R., Thierry R. & Siljak-Yakovlev S.: Polyploidy and hybridization as the main evolutionary driving forces of Juniperus sabina in its Mediterranean range.

Peterson A. & Harpke D.: The Mediterannean basin as secondary speciation centre of Gagea.

Nardi F. D., Alonso-Marcos H., Hülber K., Tribsch A. & Dobeš C.: How ploidy level and mating system influence the ecogeography of amphi-apomictic Potentilla puberula (Rosaceae).


Origin and diversification of Mediterranean crops

Organizer: Benito Valdés Castrillón

14.00

Valdés Castrillón B.: Introduction

Weiss E.: Daniel Zohary

Plitman U. & Melamed Y.: The plausible roles of women in the

domestication of lentils.

Coffee break

Coffee break

Weiss E.: The domestication of wheat and barley - new evidences.

Dimitrova D. & Ivanova T.: From crop fields to home gardens -

transitions and identities.

Cermeño P.: New Mediterranean crops - aromatic plants.



9

XVI OPTIMA Meeting

Friday, 4 October 2019


New methods in Plant Systematics Sponsored by: Plant Systematics & Evolution – Springer Link

Organizers: Karol Marhold & Christoph Oberprieler

9.30 Frajman B., Záveská E. & Schönswetter P.: Integrating next generation

sequencing, ecological niche modelling and classical phylogenetic and morphometric methods disentangles relationships within Eurasian Euphorbia seguieriana alliance (Euphorbiaceae).

Tomasello S., Karbstein K., Hodač L., Pätzold C. & Hörandl E.: Resolving phylogenetic relationships in Ranunculus auricomus using target enrichment.

Liveri E., Crowl A. A., Mavrodiev E., Yildirim H., Kamari G., Phitos D. & Cellinese N.: Another piece of the puzzle, another brick in the wall: the inevitable fate of Campanula L. section Quinqueloculares Phitos.

Coffee break

Coffee break

Aydin Z. U., Dönmez A. A. & Koch M. A.: Efficiency of plant DNA barcoding for taxonomy: A case study in Dianthus L. (Caryophyllaceae).

Wagner F., Ott T., Schall M., Lautenschlager U., Vogt R. & Oberprieler C.: Taming the Red Bastards: Hybridisation and species delimitation in the Rhodanthemum arundanum-group (Compositae, Anthemideae).

D´Antraccoli M., Roma-Marzio F., Carta A. & Peruzzi L.: Patterns of floristic richness in the Euro-Mediterranean area.

Karbstein K., Tomasello S., Hodac L., Daubert M. & Hörandl E.: New approaches in TaxonOmics: RADseq supported by geometric morphometrics uncovers relationships of sexual species within the Ranunculus auricomus complex.


Useful Plants of the Mediterranean

Organizers: Kemal Hüsnü Can Baser & Stella Kokkini

9.30 Assimopoulou A.: Alkannins and Shikonins: From Ancient Codes to

Modern Medicine. Çalis I.: Recent Advances on the chemistry of Astragalus species of

Turkey. Pirintsos S.: Linking Biodiversity with Drug development in the

framework of Ethnopharmacology: The experience of Cretan IAMA research group.

mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]



Coffee break

Coffee break

Polissiou Μ.: Essential oils from Mediteranean MAPs as potential biopesticides.

Tsimidou Μ.: The bioactive apocarotenoids of Crocus sativus L. and its wild Mediterranean allies.

12.30 Light lunch

E-Poster Session – Hall 3

Organizers: Pepy Bareka & Gianniantonio Domina

14.00 The posters will be at display throughout the entire Meeting.

19:30 Congress Dinner

Saturday, 5 October 2019


Islands and insular systems

Organizers: Frédéric Médail & Panagiotis Trigas

9.30

Médail F. & Trigas P.: Introduction: Importance of Mediterranean

islands for biogeography and conservation of plants.

Panitsa M., Kougioumoutzis K., Kagiampaki A., Triantis K. A. & Trigas

P.: Plant diversity patterns in the Aegean Islands: history, climate or

isolation?

Nikolić T.: The eastern Adriatic islands – state and perspectives.

Coffee break

Coffee break

Pasta S., La Rosa A., Pavon D., Lo Cascio P. & Médail F.: Tentamen

Florae Aeolicae: A critical checklist of the vascular plants of the

Aeolian Islands (Sicily, Italy).

Cambria S., Brullo S., Bogdanovic S. & Giusso del Galdo G.: Taxonomy

and vicariance within the endemic species of Solenopsis

(Campanulaceae) in the Mediterranean islands.

Kougioumoutzis K., Kokkoris G., Panitsa M., Strid A., Trigas P. &

Dimopoulos P.: Climate change in a Mediterranean island biodiversity

hotspot and its impact on the endemic Cretan flora.


11

XVI OPTIMA Meeting


Web Botany

Organizers: Ernst Vitek & Dimitris Koureas

9.30

Koureas D.: The Distributed System of Scientific Collections (DiSSCo)

research infrastructure; Integrating European natural history collections to enable data-driven innovation and frontier biodiversity research.

Raab-Straube E. von: Euro+Med PlantBase and the Common Data Model (CDM) – integrating, further updating and expanding floristic and taxonomic information on Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity.

Hofbauer M., Berger A., Gilli C., Lachmayer M., Prehsler D., Reich D., Sander R., Sonnleitner M. & Gutermann W.: Flora Ionica online – an integrative resource for plant biodiversity.

Coffee break

Coffee break Groom Q.: Progress towards better management of and access to

herbarium data. Dimopoulos P.: The Flora of Greece website – FoG web.

12.30 Light lunch


Plant Conservation

Organizers: Magda Bou Dagher-Kharrat & Theophanis Constantinidis

13.30

Véla E., Allen D., Barrios V., Lansdown R. & Numa C.: Assessing the conservation status of Monocots in the Mediterranean region: reflections from a recent IUCN Red List evaluation.

Dimopoulos P., Constantinidis Th., Raus Th. & Strid A.: Taxonomic plant diversity and conservation needs in Greece.

Lansdown R., Grillas P., Galewski Th. & Bazos I.: Conservation of

Mediterranean Wetland Plants.

Peruzzi L., Astuti G., Carta A., D'Antraccoli M., Roma-Marzio F. & Bedini G.: Interdisciplinary studies in plant conservation: lessons from some Italian case studies.

Bou Dagher Kharrat M., Roukoz A., Depalle F., Samad N. A., Jardak R., Kahale R., Saliba C. & Sakr R.: Conservation of endemic Oncocyclus, Iris of the eastern Mediterranean Region.

Coffee break

Coffee break




Xu X., Ma K., Luo M., Liu B., Wang H., Xue J., Lin Q., Li W., Xu Z. & Ganeshaiah K. N.: Mapping Asia Plants: Initiative and Progress.

de Montmollin B., Gotsiou P., Bacchetta G., Christodoulou Ch. S., Cogoni D., Fournaraki Ch., Giusso del Galdo G. P., Kokkinaki A., Kyratzis A., Piazza C., Vicens M. & Fenu G.: Ex-situ and in-situ joint conservation actions for threatened Mediterranean island flora: lessons learnt from the CARE-MEDIFLORA project.

Özhatay F. N., Demirci Kayıran S. & Kaya E.: Conservation of endemic Colchicum species distributed in the Mediterranean Region of Turkey.

Lazaridi E., Thanopoulos R. & Bebeli P. J.: On-farm conservation impact on cowpea diversity in Greece.


Invasive plants: botanical gardens, orchards, crops and aquatic habitats as

hotspots of spreading the alien species in the Mediterranean

Organizers: Stephen L. Jury & Olja Vasić

13.30

Tanner R.: Mitigating the impacts of invasive alien plants through international cooperation.

Mannino A. M.: Alien macrophytes in the Mediterranean sea: an overview.

Papini A. & Santosuosso U.: Modelling the center of origin and the spreading pattern of Caulerpa invasion in the Mediterranean.

Farelo P., Gómez-Bellver C., Montserrat J. M., Pyke S., López-Pujol J., Nualart N. & Ibáñez N.: Montjuïc Mountain (Barcelona): A hotspot for plant invasions in a Mediterranean city.

Coffee break

Coffee break

Del Guacchio E.: The role of the botanical gardens of Campania (Italy) in introducing invasive plants.

Jury S. L.: Nicotiana glauca: a neglected invasive? Herrando-Moraira S., Vitales D., Nualart N., Gómez-Bellver C., Ibáñez

N., Massó S., Cachón-Ferrero P., González-Gutiérrez P. A., Herrera I., Shaw D., Stinca A., Wang Z. & López-Pujol J.: From greenhouse to the wildlife: global invasion patterns of Kalanchoe ×houghtonii (Crassulaceae).

17:00 Closing Ceremony and General Meeting of OPTIMA

Sunday, 6 October 2019

Field Excursion


13

XVI OPTIMA Meeting

Oral Presentations


15

XVI OPTIMA Meeting

SYMPOSIUM 1

Geoparks and Protected areas of Greece

Organisers: Georgia Kamari & Nikolaos Zouros

Programme

1) Zouros N. (Keynote presentation): The Global Geoparks Network.

2) Fassoulas Ch., Pattakos D. & Perakis E.: The Cretan Geoparks, synergies and

actions for local sustainable development.

3) Liapi E. & Iliopoulos G.: The paleoflora of Chelmos-Vouraikos Unesco Global

Geopark: A geological and palaeobotanical heritage.

4) Kontaxi Ch., Dalaka A. & Alvanopoulos G.: Protection and management of

natural environment in Greece.

5) Kamari G., Mitsainas G. & Xanthakis M.: A successful example in the

management of protected areas in Greece: The National Park of Mt. Aenos.

6) Phitos D., Kamari G. & Bareka P.: Red Data Books as valuable tools for the

conservation of plant biodiversity in Protected Areas.



The Global Geoparks Network

Nickolaos Zouros GGN President, University of the Aegean, Department of Geography, 81100 Mytilenee, Greece. E-mail: [email protected]

The Global Geoparks Network (GGN) established in 2004, under the umbrella of

UNESCO, as an international network, which provides a platform of cooperation among Geoparks. The GGN consists a unique worldwide partnership including 147 Geoparks working to protect geological heritage and promote local sustainable development.

The GGN mission is to influence, encourage and assist local societies all over the world to conserve the integrity and diversity of abiotic and biotic nature, to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and sustainable and to support economic and cultural development of local communities through the valorization of their unique heritage and identity.

In 2014 after one decade of successful operation as a volunteer network the GGN gained legal personality. Global Geopark activities have been part of the UNESCO work plan since 2001 and, since 2004, UNESCO has offered ad-hoc support to Global Geoparks upon requests from individual Member States. In 2015 the 38th UNESCO General Conference ratified the statutes of the new International Geoscience and Geoparks Programme and the UNESCO Global Geoparks Operational Guidelines, introducing the brand UNESCO Global Geopark as a label of excellence for areas that meet the criteria set by the above-mentioned guidelines. In doing so, the GGN became officially the partner of UNESCO for the operation of the UNESCO Global Geoparks programme.

The GGN organizes co-operation and mutual assistance between the UNESCO Global Geoparks and the Global Geopark professionals to develop and promote the Geopark concept world-wide.

The GGN initiates and co-ordinates Regional Geoparks Networks which enhance international co-operation in Geoparks building and management, supporting local communities and fostering local development.

The GGN is operating a variety of communication tools to disseminate information among its members and to promote the Geopark concept and activities to the broad public.

The GGN organizes campaigns for the celebration of international days such as Earth’s day, Mountains day, Natural Disaster reduction day, Museum’s day, World Environmental day etc.

The GGN organizes capacity building activities to disseminate knowledge on Geoparks building and management focusing on geographical areas with less representation in the Network. Capacity building activities are implemented in collaboration with UNESCO, national authorities and universities as well as regional and national Geopark networks.

GGN celebrates in 2019 15 years of successful operation and development and faces new challenges for the years to come. These include the development of Geoparks



17

XVI OPTIMA Meeting

in all continents, strengthening of Geoparks visibility through marketing and communication, the implementation of best practices in geodiversity management, geo-conservation, geo-tourism, geo-education and sustainable local development as well as the high quality activities and services for visitors in the UNESCO Global Geoparks.

Keywords: Global, Geoparks, Network, UNESCO.



The Cretan Geoparks, synergies and actions for local sustainable

development

Charalampos Fassoulas1, Dimitrios Pattakos2 & Evaggelos Perakis3

1 Natural History Museum of Crete, Uni. Crete, Coordinator of HGF, Vice Cοordinator of EGN,

Scientific Coordinator of Psiloritis UGGp, Heraklion, Crete, Greece. E-mail: [email protected]

2 Director of AKOM Psiloritis SA and Psiloritis UGGP, Anogia, Rethimnon, Crete, Greecce. 3 Coordinator of Sitia UGGp, Municipality of Sitia, Sitia, Crete, Greece.

Crete hosts two UNESCO Global Geoparks, the Psiloritis and Sitia, together with

the Samaria Man and Biosphere Reserve. The Geoparks are areas with significant geological heritage that aim at local sustainable development through the conservation of Natural and Cultural environment, the continuous training and education of local people and visitors and the support of local products and activities.

Located at Crete, both geoparks expose outstanding areas of natural and cultural beauty, influenced and governed by the geological bedrock. From the coastal zone to the high mountains the prevailing carbonate rocks form gorges, plateaus, caves, springs and various other habitats where wild life and humans evolved through time at a continuous reforming and active landscape. The geoparks share also similar history, traditions and cuisine, with local peculiarities that add special flavor and characteristics at each place.

Geotourism is the main tool of geoparks to achieve local sustainable development and under this target both geoparks, Psiloritis and Sitia, have developed individual and common actions to enhance and promote their natural and cultural wealth, develop special infrastructures for the visitors, produce and implement educational activities focused on the peculiarities of each place and undertake actions to support and promote local production and goods. In past both areas participated in GEOTOPIA, an INTERREG Greece-Cyprus project that contributed significantly in the development of necessary infrastructure and promotional material for SItia and Troodos areas in Cyprus and helped them to successfully apply for nomination as UNESCO Global geoparks. Collaboration continued under a new INTERREG Greece- Cyprus program titled GEO-IN, under which the Hellenic and Cypriot coastal UNESCO Global Geoparks develop and implement actions to strengthen geotourism at their territories and promote the geoparks in global level. New interactive and web-based applications have been produced and new educational products have been designed together with studies, temporary exhibitions and participation at international fairs.

Last but not least, Psiloritis and Sitia geoparks in collaboration with the Samaria MAB and the Region of Crete designed and already implement a Spatial Integrated Investment under the regional funding period, titled “The UNESCO Sites of Crete”, aiming to develop a new alternative tourism product for the island.


19

XVI OPTIMA Meeting

The Paleoflora of Chelmos-Vouraikos Unesco Global Geopark: A geological

and palaeobotanical heritage

Eleni Liapi & George Iliopoulos

Department of Geology, University of Patras, University Campus, GR-25504, Rio, Greece.

Chemos-Vouraikos UNESCO Global Geopark of Greece hosts several geosites that

represent important geological features such as caves, lakes, gorges or palaeontological remains. A great number of the geotopes, which are being related with surface and underground water, present the scientific value of the Geopark.

Nevertheless, in the lignite beds of the Kalavryta basin, Late Miocene to Early Pliocene fossiliferous lacustrine deposits containing numerous fossils leaves or leafy twigs have been recently discovered. These plant macro-remains are characterized by high preservation quality and have been preserved mainly as compressions or leaf impressions. A significant number of specimens (more than 1000 plant fossils) were collected from the lignite beds of two different localities of the Kalavrita basin (Drosato and Palaiochori). In the framework of this study the description and systematic classification of these plant macro-remains was carried out. The preliminary results show that the following taxa have been identified: Quercus roburoides, Quercus pseudocastanea, Quercus kubinyii, Zelkova zelkovifolia, Acer integerrimum, Acer integrilobum, Platanus academiae, Populus sp., Salix sp., Paliurus sp. and Carya species. In addition, conifer macro-remains and mainly Glyptostrobus europaeus are being identified in the palaeofloras of the wider study area. Based on the fossil record, a mixed mesophytic forest with different species of Quercus and other floristic elements seems to prevail in the lowland areas, whereas in the swampy areas the conifer Glyptostrobus europaeus and branches of monocotyledons dominated respectively.

The study focuses in the reconstruction of the vegetation in the Late Miocene-Early Pliocene, as well as the representation of the palaeoenvironment of the Geopark. Moreover, comparisons of the modern Mediterranean flora along with the extinct species of Glyptostrobus and Zelkova will be carried out showing simultaneously the evolution of the vegetation structure. Such well-preserved plant macro-remains are certainly an important part of the local geoheritage and could become in the future one of the most significant assets for the Chemos-Vouraikos UNESCO Global Geopark.

Keywords: Late Miocene- Early Pliocene, Kalavryta, plant macrofossils, lignite deposits.



Protection and management of natural environment in Greece

Christina Kontaxi, Anastasia Dalaka & George Alvanopoulos Management of Natural Environment and Biodiversity - Ministry of Environment and Energy, Greece.

The protected areas system in Greece consists mainly of Natura 2000 sites. This

network comprises a total of 446 sites, of which 215 are SAC, 181 are SPA, 24 are SAC/SPA and 26 are SCI. The marine area of the Natura sites is equal to 19.90% of the national marine area and the land area is equal to 27.55% of the land.

According to national legislation, the definition of land uses and the permitted or non-permitted activities within Natura requires the preparation of a Special Environmental Study and the issuance of a Presidential Decree and a Management Plan. The Management Plan specifies the provisions of the PD and is supported by the monitoring following the implementation of the management measures. The Ministry of Environment and Energy is currently implementing a project for the adoption of the PDs for all Natura sites, funded by the NSRF.

In order to implement the relevant National and European legislation on the management of the protected areas, 36 Management Bodies have been constituted, with responsibilities including the implementation of management plans and public information on protected species (habitat types and types).


21

XVI OPTIMA Meeting

A successful example in the management of protected areas in Greece: the

National Park of mt. Aenos

Georgia Kamari1, George Mitsainas1 & Michael Xanthakis2

1 Department of Biology, University of Patras, GR-26500 Patras, Greece. E-mails:

[email protected]; [email protected] 2 Management Body of Mt. Aenos National Park, Koutavos Environmental Centre, GR-28100,

Argostoli, Cephalonia island, Greece. E-mail: [email protected]

The Management Authority of the National Park of Mt. Aenos was established in 2002, in order to manage, protect and promote awareness on the National Park, an important protected area of the NATURA 2000 network of Greece (GR2220002), located on Cephalonia, (Ionian islands). The iconic feature of the National Park, that also led to its foundation in 1962, is the Abies cephalonica forest (locus classicus), an endemic fir species of Greece. Just last year, the Management Authority’s area of jurisdiction increased remarkably in size from just 2,862 ha to a total area of 57,981.30 ha and it is now responsible for all six NATURA sites of Cephalonia and Ithaca (GR2220001, GR2220002, GR2220004, GR2220005, GR2220006 & GR2220007) that include both aquatic and terrestrial areas. Over the past years, the Managing Authority undertook the coordination and implementation of scientific monitoring actions for the Flora, Macromycetes, Fauna, Avifauna, as well as the habitat types, of the National Park of Mt. Aenos, but also the wider area of Cephalonia - Ithaca. These monitoring efforts produced very important data on the local biodiversity and its protection. For example, in the latest edition of the Red Data Book of Threatened Plants of Greece, ten plant taxa of Cephalonia - Ithaca (five exclusive of Mt. Aenos) have been included. The Management Authority was also responsible for patrolling/Guarding the National Park and undertook extensive and diverse environmental awareness/education initiatives, targeting both students and the general public and ranging from interactive activities outside the Park to excursions inside. A variety of publicity material has been created over time (leaflets, posters, cards, calendars, poster-size plates that inform visitors in the National Park etc.) culminating in the publication of a book in Greek and English on the National Park of Mt. Aenos, that presented the significant knowledge that has been gathered over the years of operation of the Management Authority and before. Acting further as a scientific entity, the Management Authority has organized a series of seminars and conferences and hosted students through the Erasmus exchange initiative. It has also undertaken innovative actions, such as the creation of a seed bank and regeneration lab for plant species, the radio-dating of the Fir forest, the design of a virtual tour and museum platform for the National Park etc. During the past two years, the Management Authority has undertaken the ambitious task to organize the Geopark of Cephalonia - Ithaca with the support of the Region of Ionian Islands, since the area meets all the geological qualifications. Currently, the candidacy is under preparation to apply for membership at the UNESCO Global Geoparks. All these actions, were implemented in the best possible way, through the productive cooperation of the Board and the staff of the Management Authority, achieving in the end to inspire,



inform and change the attitude of students, citizens and very difficult stakeholders, such as the shepherds of the region from initial skepticism, suspicion and fear to understanding the value of the National Park and becoming allies towards its protection.

Keywords: Cephalonia, Patrolling/Guarding, Environmental Awareness, Biodiversity Monitoring, Innovative Actions.


23

XVI OPTIMA Meeting

SYMPOSIUM 2

Fungal diversity in the Mediterranean area: recent advances

and future prospects

Organiser: Giuseppe Venturella & Georgios Zervakis

Programme

1) Mello A. (invited lecture): Advances in the identification of ectomycorrhizal fungi – insights on their biological and ecological aspects.

2) Zambonelli A. (invited lecture): Diversity of the genus Tuber in the wider Mediterranean Area and prospects for the commercial exploitation of selected truffle species.

3) Venturella G., Ferraro V. & Gargano M. L.: Biodiversity, conservation and exploitation of medicinal mushrooms in Italy.

4) Lewinsohn D.: The unique mycobiota of the Negev desert in Israel.

5) Leonardi M., Comandini O. & Rinaldi A. C.: Halimium and associated mycobionts: a new look at Mediterranean ectomycorrhizal communities.

6) Polemis E., Daskalopoulos V., Fryssouli V. & Zervakis G. I.: Inventory of macrofungi associated with Alnus glutinosa (priority habitat 91E0) from Andros island, Greece.




Advances in the identification of ectomycorrhizal fungi – insights on their

biological and ecological aspects

Antonietta Mello Istituto per la Protezione Sostenibile delle Piante-CNR, Viale P. Mattioli 25, 10125 Torino, Italy.

Ectomycorrhizal (ECM) simbiosis is established by fungi almost exclusively

belonging to Basidiomycetes and Ascomycetes, and host plants including most angiosperm and gymnosperm trees, as well as shrubs. The development of an ECM symbiosis requires morphological changes in the two partners, needed to the formation of the symbiotic structures. The ectomycorrhiza is formed by two fungal pseudotissues: the mantle, which develops outside the root, and the Hartig net, which colonizes the apoplastic space between root cells. Starting with the manual dissection of the mantle from the Hartig net of Amanita muscaria ectomycorrhizae, it has been proved that the two compartments are functionally different and, later on, that the mantle is the responsible for the mineral elements (i.e. nitrogen) and water uptake from soil, whereas the Hartig net shows an enhancement of the expression of several transporters.

The identification of ECM fungi has generally been focused on the macro- and microscopic examination of fruiting bodies. Only since the early 1990s these fungi have also been characterized by DNA-based methods mainly involving direct sequence analysis of the ITS region and its deposit in GeneBank or EMBL. Once the molecular tools as sequencing and specific primers have been available, they have allowed typing the ECM tips, usually after sorting these in morphotypes and therefore to study the EM community of trees in different habitats. As each ECM species is specialized in exploiting specific resources of the soil ecosystem, investigations have been thereafter focused on the spatial distribution of the extraradical mycelium. Hebeloma cylindrosporum was the first ECM fungus to be detected in soil, within 50 cm from the fruiting bodies. Studies as this have been focused on the individual recognition of ectomycorrhizal fungi, clarifying many aspects of their population biology. The introduction of high-throughput sequencing techniques and the suitability of studying (micro)organisms directly in situ (metagenomics or environmental genomics) have provided new information on ECM fungal communities by ‘barcodes’ of ITS regions in several biomes/ecosystems. At the same time genomic and transcriptomic sequencing projects starting in 2008 with the first mycorrhizal genome sequencing (i.e. that of L. bicolor) have allowed the identification of the common core of ECM symbiosis-related genes, as determinants of the symbiotic lifestyle.

In this presentation I will trace some advances in the identification, biology and ecology of the ECM fungi achieved in the last 30 years mainly focusing on the advent of new techniques and of an interdisciplinary research approach.


25

XVI OPTIMA Meeting

Diversity of the genus Tuber in the wider Mediterranean Area and

prospects for the commercial exploitation of selected truffle species

Alessandra Zambonelli1, Mirco Iotti2, Ian Hall3

1 Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Bologna, viale Fanin 44, 40127 Bologna, Italy.

2 Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L’Aquila, via Vetoio (Coppito), 1, 67100 L’Aquila, Italy.

3 Truffles & Mushrooms (Consulting) Ltd, P.O. Box 268, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand.

True truffles are ascomycetous fungi of the genus Tuber characterized by

hypogeous ascomata and an ectomycorrhizal lifestyle. Although, the genus Tuber includes around 200 species, only a few Mediterranean species are considered gourmet foods commanding high prices. The most precious species are Tuber magnatum (the Italian white truffle) Tuber melanosporum (the Périgord truffle), Tuber aestivum (the summer truffle) and Tuber borchii (the bianchetto truffle).

Traditionally wild truffles are harvested and commercialized in Italy, France and more recently in Spain. However, in the last years several other Mediterranean countries, like Greece or Morocco began to exploit their natural truffle resources. Of particular note is T. magnatum, a species that has long been considered an almost exclusive Italian species, has been found to be widespread in Greece.

Intensive harvesting of truffles has been shown to cause falls in truffle production as a consequence of physical damage to Tuber ectomycorrhizas, the soil mycelium and, probably suppressing fertilization. In order to protect this important resource, it is essential to enforce strict rules during the harvest to protect their unique environment and to stop harvesting in same areas allowing spore diffusion. Recent studies have been shown their important role in truffle fertilization and fructification.

Truffle cultivation has also become an important agricultural alternative in rural Mediterranean regions, which at the same time promotes reforestation, economic restoration of rural lands and land-use stability. The new mycelial techniques for the production of truffle infected plants could assist to improve truffle cultivation given the possibility select the best fungal strains for each hostplant and environmental condition. However, more research will be needed to perfect techniques for the cultivation of Tuber magnatum, which still gives uncertainty results.

Over the past quarter Century truffle cultivation has been successfully introduced in several European countries and others such as Canada, the USA and China. Extensive plantings have also been successful in the Southern Hemisphere in areas with suitable climates in countries like New Zealand, Australia, Chile and South Africa. The result has meant that quality truffles are now available the year round in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.



Biodiversity, conservation and exploitation of medicinal mushrooms

in Italy

Giuseppe Venturella1,2, Valeria Ferraro1 & Maria Letizia Gargano1,2

1 Department of Agricultural, Food and Forest Sciences, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy. 2 Italian Society of Medicinal Mushrooms, Pisa, Italy. Corresponding author: [email protected]

The Italian territory, characterized by countless types of vegetation, expresses a

remarkable diversity of fungal species capable of performing multiple and fundamental roles for the balance and survival of ecosystems. The diversity of mushrooms in Italy is expressed by a high number of taxa which, according to recent estimates, amounts to more than 6,000. In situ conservation strategies are mostly activated in natural areas and in regional and national parks thanks to special regulations. In other areas there are regulations that protect natural habitats and consequently also fungal communities. The examples of ex situ conservation are rather limited and addressed to some species with point distribution. A contribution to ex situ conservation is provided by the Mycoteques whose presence in Italy is currently limited to a few universities and the National Research Council. In recent times, researchers have begun to look at fungal diversity in terms of income support, alternative foods to traditional ones, and prevention and treatment of various diseases of man and of domestic and farmed animals. The cultivation of the fungi has therefore assumed a double value. To the traditional cultivation of mushrooms for commercial purposes has been added the one for the production of mushrooms to be dried and to be destined, in the form of dry extract, to the nutraceutical industry. In this abstract are reported the recent actions taken at national level in the field of Science-to-business (S2B) marketing and related to the activation of a production chain that enhances the fungal biodiversity in Italy for the production of mushrooms to be used in the fresh market and the production of certified extracts to be used in nutraceutical companies.

Keywords: science-to-business, mushrooms cultivation, mushroom extracts, mycotherapy, Italy.


27

XVI OPTIMA Meeting

The unique mycobiota of the Negev desert in Israel

Dalia Lewinsohn Dalia Lewinsohn the Shamir Research Institute University Of Haifa, Kazrin, Israel. E-mail: [email protected]

Desert truffles are mycorrhizal, hypogeous fungi considered a delicacy. On the

basis of morphological characters we identified three desert truffle species that grow in the same habitat in the Negev desert. These include Picoa lefebvrei (Pat,.) Tirmania nivea (Desf.) Trappe, and Terfezia boudieri (Chatain), all associated with Helianthemum sessiliflorum. Their taxonomy was confirmed by PCR-RFLP. The main volatiles of fruit bodies of T. boudieri and T. nivea were 1-octen-3-ol and hexanal.

However, volatiles of the latter species further included branched-chain amino acid derivatives such as 2-methylbutanal and 3-methylbutanal, phenylalanine derivatives such as benzaldehyde and benzenacetaldehyde, and methionine derivatives such asmethional and dimethyl disulfide. The least aromatic truffle, P. lefebvrei, contained low levels of 1-octen-3-ol as the main volatile.

Axenic mycelia cultures of T. boudieri displayed a simpler volatile profile compared to its fruit bodies. This work highlights differences in the volatile profiles of desert truffles and could hence be of interest for selecting and cultivating genotypes with the most likable aroma.

Keywords: Helianthemum sessiliflorum, Picoa lefebvrei, Tirmania nivea, Terfezia boudieri, desert truffles, volatiles.




Halimium and associated mycobionts: a new look at Mediterranean

ectomycorrhizal communities

Marco Leonardi, Ornella Comandini2 and Andrea C. Rinaldi3

1 Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L’Aquila, L’Aquila, Italy. 2 Department of Life Sciences and the Environment, University of Cagliari, I-09042 Monserrato

(CA), Italy. 3 Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Cagliari, I-09042 Monserrato (CA), Italy.

Corresponding author: [email protected]

Cistaceae are an important reservoir of ectomycorrhizal fungi in Mediterranean

ecosystems, with significant ecological consequences. While this has been widely recognized for Cistus, the allied genus Halimium has been generally neglected from this point of view. The genus comprises 13 accepted species, all of them being evergreen or semi-deciduous small to large shrubs, with yellow or white flowers with three locules in each ovary. The centre of diversity is in the western part of the Mediterranean basin. As Cistus, Halimium species are mainly found in open vegetation types, like matorral shrublands and garrigues, but also occur at the verges of woods, in degraded forest areas, abandoned fields, pasturelands, and also on coastal sandy soils. So far, Halimium mycorrhizal biology has received little attention. To fill this gap, we recently described the morpho-anatomical and molecular features of the ectomycorrhizae formed by Halimium halimifolium with Scleroderma meridionale as collected from coastal dunes in Sardinia (Leonardi et al, Symbiosis 76: 199-208, 2018). Further field work on pure Halimium stands in Sardinia, coupled with a thorough analysis of literature records, has permitted to ascertain that over 50 species of ectomycorrhizal fungi are associated with Halimium. These belong to genera such as Amanita, Cortinarius, Hebeloma, Inocybe, Russula, Lactarius, Leccinellum, Thelephora and others, and include some rare and possibly new species. An analysis of the composition of the Halimium-bound fungal guild reveals that Halimium is apparently able to establish mycorrhizal symbiosis with fungal species considered to be Cistus-specific mycobionts, and that the ectomycorrhizal contingent of Halimium is shared with other host plants, including Quercus and Pinus.



29

XVI OPTIMA Meeting

Inventory of macrofungi associated with Alnus glutinosa (priority habitat

91E0) from Andros island, Greece

Elias Polemis, Vassilis Daskalopoulos, Vassiliki Fryssouli & Georgios I. Zervakis Agricultural University of Athens, Department of Crop Science, Laboratory of General and Agricultural Microbiology, Iera Odos 75, 11855 Athens, Greece. E-mail: [email protected]

Alluvial forests/woods dominated by trees of the genus Alnus (priority habitat 91E0, Annex I Directive 92/43/EEC) are widely distributed throughout Europe and occur along river banks and watercourses. Diversity of macrofungi associated with this habitat was only scarcely studied in Greece despite the fact that it represents a species-rich niche for such organisms. Several Alnus glutinosa (alder) stands exist in streams and rivulets of permanent flow in Andros island (Central Aegean) representing their southernmost distribution limit in the Balkan Peninsula as well as the most important forest-relicts of this type in the Aegean Archipelago. These stands and the adjacent littoral alluvial valleys have been inventoried for more than 20 years in respect to macrofungi; sampling was intensified during the past two years in the frame of an ongoing project (LIFE16 NAT/GR/000606). The material collected was subjected to detailed morphological and phylogenetic study. The outcome of the pertinent inventory comprises a total number of 96 species (Basidiomycota). The majority are saprotrophs, i.e. 48 wood decomposers (saproxylic) and 11 litter decomposers within the alder stands, while 24 were detected in the adjacent littoral zone at the estuaries of streams and rivulets. In addition, 13 ectomycorrhizal (ECM) species were also recorded, most of them being alder-specific symbionts. Among the species of this inventory, six constitute new national records, namely the ECMs Inocybe calospora and Naucoria luteolofibrillosa, the saprotrophs Hyphodermella corrugata and Peniophora rufomarginata as well as the sabulicolous Gymnopilus arenophilus and Psathyrella almerensis. Many more constitute the only confirmed records of their presence to date in Greece, including three taxa new to science (i.e. Entoloma alnicola, Gymnopus amygdalisporus and G. dysosmus). Furthermore, the majority of saproxylic and ECM species, which were found growing in association with alder trees in Andros, were not recorded to occur elsewhere in Greece.

Acknowledgments: This study was funded by the project titled “Conservation of priority species and habitats of Andros Island protected area integrating socioeconomic considerations, LIFE Andros Park” (European Commission – LIFE Nature, LIFE16 NAT/GR/000606).



SYMPOSIUM 3

History of early botanical exploration in the Mediterranean

Organisers: Werner Greuter & Vernon H. Heywood

Programme

1) Bueno A. G. & Heywood V. H.: Early botanical exploration of Spain.

2) Valdés Castrillón B.: Early botanical exploration of the Maghreb countries.

3) Raimondo F. M., Camarda I. & Lucchese F.: Early botanical exploration of Italy.

4) Lack H. W.: Early botanical exploration of the southern Balkans, Anatolia, and

Caucasia.

5) Al-Zein M.: Early botanical exploration of the Levant and Egypt.

6) Leschner H.: The big Bang - botanical investigation of the Middle East during

1900-1960.


31

XVI OPTIMA Meeting

Early botanical exploration of the Maghreb countries

B. Valdés Department of Plant Biology and Ecology, Seville, Spain

The Maghreb is considered as the N African territories covered by Mauritania,

Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya, an area which almost coincides with what it was named "The Barbary" by Europeans from the XVI to the XIX centuries. The period included in this presentation covers from the first botanical visit to Algiers by John Tradescant the Elder at the beginning of the XVII century, to the end of the XVIII. It includes notices on Tradescant, Balaam, Spotswood, Shaw, Vahl, Desfontaines, Broussonet, Durand, Jackson and Schousboe.



History of early botanical exploration in Spain

Antonio Gonzalez Bueno (Madrid) & Vernon H. Heywood (Reading) The early botanical exploration of Spain was undertaken by both Spanish

botanists and foreign European botanists and plant collectors. It can be roughly divided into three phases: (1) the peri-Linnaean period dominated by Joseph Quer, author of the prelinnean Flora Española, completed, with Linnaean nomenclature, by Casimiro Gómez Ortega, at a time when botanical knowledge of the Iberian Peninsula was still little known, and together with the works of Ignacio Jordán de Asso and European botanists such as Carolus Clusius, Jacques Barrelier and Joseph Pitton de Tournefort formed the main base of knowledge of the flora (2) the short-lived renaissance of Spanish botany at the beginning of the 19th century when Antonio José Cavanilles became director of the Jardín Botánico de Madrid, and his disciples, Mariano La Gasca and José Demetrio Rodríguez worked on the Spanish flora, then followed by a period of decline. (3) The second half of the 19th century saw attempts by Mariano de la Paz Graells, Miguel Colmeiro and others to revitalize Spanish floristics, and the preparation of regional Floras by, for example, Francisco Loscos, Juan Joaquín Rodríguez-Femenías, José María Pérez-Lara, Antoni Cebrià Costa, as well as extensive floristic exploration by foreign botanists, notably Edmond Boissier, George Bentham, Heinrich Moritz Willkomm and Johan Lange and plant collectors such as Eugène Bourgeau, followed around the end of the century by a number of plant collectors including Rupert Huter, Pietro Porta, Giorgio Rigo, Elisée Reverchon, Gabriel Marie Joseph Hervier-Basson and Michel Gandoger. The location of the herbarium collections is highly diverse, largely due to the political unrest and economic difficulties in Spain and the involvement of so many plant collectors who made large numbers of sets of exsiccatae which were sold to individuals or Herbaria in Europe and elsewhere.


33

XVI OPTIMA Meeting

Early botanical exploration of Italy

Francesco M. Raimondo1, Ignazio Camarda2 & Fernando Lucchese3

1 PLANTA, Piazza Cairoli 11, 90123 Palermo, Italy. E-mail: [email protected] 2 Istituto Sardo di Scienze Lettere e Arti, Dipartimento di Storia dell’Università, Via Umberto I,

52, 07100 -Sassari, Italy. E-mail: [email protected] 3 Università di Rome Tre, Viale G. Marconi 446, 00146-Rome, Italy. E-mail:

[email protected]

Throughout its geopolitical history, Italy’s territory and in particular its flora have

been carefully studied, starting especially in the early centuries of the second millennium CE. However, even before then, the medieval horti conclusi played a fundamental role in the birth of botanical gardens, which were the first centres that specialised in the study of flora using a scientific method. As is widely known, they were born in Italy, first in Tuscany and then in the Veneto. Padua was home to the first institution where botany was practiced, especially with regard to medicinal plants and plants of economic interest. But it was in Pisa where two years later the Italian and world history of academic gardens and their herbariums would begin, with Luca Ghini and Andrea Cesalpino. The study and scientific exploration of the territory would later intensify with the invention—it too attributed to Luca Ghini—of the herbarium as a collection of exsiccata. From then on, herbaria made it possible to document collections so that they could be preserved and then studied.

All over Italy, principalities and small kingdoms, throughout the Renaissance and until the birth of the Kingdom of Italy (1861), favoured the creation of a series of botanical institutions that would become centres for the promotion and pursuit of botanical exploration at a local level. At times this effort was very thorough, especially from the end of the eighteenth century and in the early nineteenth century. Suffice it to mention Allioni in Piedmont, Plazza and Moris in Sardinia, Targioni-Tozzetti and Parlatore in Tuscany, Bertoloni in Emilia-Romagna and the most popular botanists in southern Italy, especially in Sicily. These regions were at the forefront, together with Lazio and the lands that once belonged to the Papal States, which included Lazio, as well as Umbria, the Marches, part of Central Italy and the southernmost tip of the peninsula with the exception of the Kingdom of Naples. The history of this exploration is masterfully covered by Pignatti in the introduction to his Flora d'Italia (Pignatti, 1982) and proposed again—with an even deeper level of detail, region by region—by various authors (Pedrotti, 1988). At the beginning of the current century, it was covered once again in the volume edited by Scoppola & Blasi (2005): Stato delle conoscenze floristiche sulla flora Vascolare d’Italia, it too comprising the contributions of several authors. These are the key documents of our presentation which examines not only the contributions to the early explorations of Italian botanists but also the contributions of botanists from different European countries. Among these is important the journey made by the Englishman John Ray (1627-1705), the father of English Botany, in some European countries and in Italy, which is visited from 3 October 1663 to 16 March 1665, arriving in Sicily and also Malta.



SYMPOSIUM 4

Origin and diversification of Mediterranean crops

To the memory of Daniel Zohary

Organiser: Benito Valdés Castrillón

Programme

1) Valdés B.: Introduction

2) Weiss E.: Daniel Zohary

3) Plitman U. & Melamed Y.: The plausible roles of women in the domestication of

lentils.

4) Weiss E.: The domestication of wheat and barley - new evidences.

5) Dimitrova D. & Ivanova T.: From crop fields to home gardens - transitions and

identities.

6) Cermeño P.: New Mediterranean crops - aromatic plants.



35

XVI OPTIMA Meeting

Introduction

Benito Valdés Castrillón

At the beginning of the Neolithic several annual plants were introduced into cultivation in E Mediterranean, a process investigated by many experts amongst which Daniel Zohary was a leading figure. From there, Mediterranean agriculture spread along Europe and the Mediterranean at a speed of c. 1 km per year. Early crops diversified to produce regional and local land-races, many of which have, unfortunately, been lost in modern times. Of course, new crops were introduced into cultivation later, including fruit trees, which cultivation widely generalized from SE Europe and W Asia elsewhere. But the search for new crops is also a contemporary process and affects plants such as borage, golden thistle, bladder campion, wild green asparagus, etc.

The content of this Symposium will in a way summarize all this process, with a lecture by U. Plitmann and Yoel Melamed on “The plausible roles of women in the domestication of lentils”, another by E. Weiss on “The domestication of wheat and barley – new evidence”, another by D. Dimitrova and T. Ivanova on “From crop fields to home gardens – transitions and identities” and a fine lecture by P. Cermeño “New Mediterranean crops: aromatic plants”.




The plausible roles of women in the domestication of lentils

Uzi Plitmann & Yoel Melamed

Following the hypothesis that women had been the principal gatherers in the Neolothic and likewise experimented in growing plants in small plots, we shall demonstrate that (1) such women gatherers could collect sufficient fruits of Lens orientalis (the ancestor of L. culinaris) sufficing for both processing of food and preserving seeds for further use; (2) owing to the extremely thin seed coat in these lentils, their germination rate is rather high, and likewise, food-processing is easier compared with other beans; and (3) lentils, like several annual legumes, do not need mitants, neither for indehiscence or for their threshing. Altogether, we shall discuss that this combination of characters and/or pre-adaptations, plus the merit of preferable tasty food, had been selected (or adopted) by the first female gatherers and female farmers, and is still retaining lentils as one of the most favorable beans. Altogether, those Neolithic women might be considered as the first plant-breeders.


37

XVI OPTIMA Meeting

The domestication of wheat and barley – new evidence

Ehud Weiss

The domestication of wheat and barley, together with the rest of the “Founder Crops” are considered a constitutive event in the emergence of agriculture in the Fertile Crescent. In the case of these two cereals, this process involved the transformation from a wild form – Triticum dicoccoides and Hordeum spontaneum – to a non-shattering form of domesticated type – T. dicoccum and H. distichum. Due to its impact of human history and potential contribution for future breeding much research was devoted to the understanding of the process of their domestication evolution.

In this paper I’d like to refer mainly to two research avenues which contributed much to our knowledge in recent years: archaeobotany and ancient DNA.

Archaeobotanical assemblages are prime source for data regarding plant species used by early human societies – hunter-gatherers and farmers. We can trace their use of wild plants, as well as their transition from collecting and managing wild plants to first appearance of domestic forms in human dwellings. The emerging field of archaeogenetic, which progressed immensely in the last decade, give critical insights into the “when” and “where” of plant domestication.



From crop fields to home gardens - transitions and identities

Dessislava Dimitrova & Teodora Ivanova Department of Plant and Fungal Diversity and Resources, Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria.

High depopulation rate frames the processes currently developing in Bulgarian

rural areas. The migration and the population ageing result in a decline and/or abandonment of traditional agricultural practices and local plant genetic resources. We have explored and documented Bulgarian rural home gardens and have analyzed how particular plant species and varieties affect social relations and cultural patterns and, on the other hand, how cultural orientations, local knowledge and experience, social relations, cultural practices, and trans- and interactions do affect plant diversity, how they lead to preservation, modification or loss of genetic resources. We also have analyzed possible opportunities and obstacles of small-scale farmers and food producers that depend on these gardens to sustain their production and farming practices amidst global climatic and socio-cultural transformations. The ethnobotanical and ethnographical interdisciplinary field work was focused on village and small urban settlements situated in four provinces in South and North-West Bulgaria. Semi-structured interviews were performed in 32 settlements together with plant composition surveys of home gardens and historical/archive surveys. Current data provide evidence that collection of wild plants, and cultivation of specific local crops and landraces are still maintained together with the related knowledge (traditional and modern) by interested individuals but are not clearly recognized as a community value. Changes in climatic, biological, economic and socio-political circumstances were recurring themes in the interviews, showing complex fluctuations that shaped present personal agro/horticultural choices. Preservation of local drought-adapted crops (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp., Lathyrus sativus L., Vicia faba L., Cicer arietinum L., etc.), knowledge on collection of wild greens as hunger foods and general willingness to participate in nature protection were found as positive keystones for grassroots activities that are urgently needed, especially among younger people and agriculture and food processing entrepreneurs. The latter were seen as unaddressed target group for development of sustainable (re)innovative products and practices based on preserved local bio(cultural) resources. Development of local identities around plant-related cultural events is discussed as a potential tool for preservation of valuable genetic resources on the ground. Acknowledgements: Field work is funded under project DN10/1 The Garden: Site of Biocultural Diversity and Interdisciplinary Junction funded by National Science Fund.


39

XVI OPTIMA Meeting

New Mediterranean crops - aromatic plants

Pedro Cermeño Sacristán Institute of Research and Training in Agriculture and Fishery (IFAPA), Junta of Andalusia, Las Torres, Alcala del Río, 41200 Sevilla, Spain. E-mail: [email protected]

The European consumer is increasingly demanding natural products obtained

from plants. Sometimes, one part from one or more plants is demanded, especially specific chemical compounds or extracts. Current extraction methods allow us to obtain individual chemical compounds or extracts which are valuable due to their properties. In this sense, the grower may work individually or in association with other growers in order to manage these modern extraction systems.

Andalusia, located in the south of Spain, has a Mediterranean climate characterised by a long summer period with a severe water deficit in which the evapotranspiration is higher than the pluviometry. This fact involves a differential growing rate among botanical species: some of them show a growth inhibition and consequently a biomass reduction. Apart from the above mentioned, it is necessary to highlight the wide variety of microclimates in Andalusia mainly due to the presence of a huge range of coastline (875 kilometres) and its varying orography with mountains which can reach 3,500 metres of altitude. Considering the pluviometry, the variance between areas can be mentioned, for instance, the arid conditions of the desert of Tabernas in Almería or areas with a high pluviometry of 2,000 mm per year, such as the Grazalema mountain range. As far as temperature is concerned, it is possible to differentiate between areas with subtropical climate, such as the coast of Granada, and areas with high mountain temperatures which reach an average annual temperature of 4 ºC being sometimes completely snowy.

Regarding the soil typology and morphogenesis in these regions, wide differences among soils can be found, considering different factors such as the number of layers in the soil, soil pH value, textures, structures as well as the different soil evolution degrees.

These edaphoclimatic variations have given rise to different biogeographic regions with a high level of flora diversity ranging around 4,000 botanical species, from which many of the them belong to the aromatic and medicinal plants (PAM) sector. The Lamiaceae family has a huge number of these PAM species and consequently play an essential role in this sector. Some of these species show a certain degree of water stress tolerance allowing their better adaptation to the environment.

Since there is an increasing demand for these plant species, we consider it is necessary to implement the growth of these species in order to supply the consumer with the chemical compounds or extracts obtained from them already mentioned but without decimating natural populations. Moreover, it is necessary to consider that the high diversity of environmental conditions leads to variations in plants chemical composition, which can be solved through an accurate homogenization of the final product. The implementation of these growing systems requires an in-depth analysis



based on the growing trend of each species under different culture techniques as well as their acclimation to different environmental conditions.

In order to optimize this process, it is necessary to determine the interrelationships among the three main factors assessed: botanical species (autochthonous aromatic and medicinal plants), growing systems (culture techniques) and environmental conditions (edaphoclimatic conditions of the production area). After the determination of the best interrelationship among the factors studied, it will be submitted to an economic analysis, variable in time according to market prices. In addition, progress in the biodiversity and sustainability objectives of agricultural productions is required.

At present the current lines of our work are being developed in order to implement the growing production system of the species of the genera Rosmarinus, Salvia, Thymus, Santolina, Lavandula, Origanum, Melissa and Matricaria.

Plant material selection from wild populations. Obtaining plant material and the methodology required for its multiplication on

an industrial scale. Physiological changes studies in each phenological stage in order to be modified

using different culture techniques in the corresponding phase of the growing system. The implementation of the mechanization on the production system. Determination of the most adequate chemical extraction process according to the

different species assessed as well as the chemical compounds and the yield to be obtained.

Studies of cultivation costs and extraction of products and chemical compounds. Results transference to the producers.


41

XVI OPTIMA Meeting

SYMPOSIUM 5

Plant diversity and evolution in polyploid, dysploid, and hybrid

complexes of the Mediterranean flora

Organisers: Lorenzo Peruzzi & Sonja Siljak-Yakovlev

Programme

1) Introduction

2) Nemati Z., Harpke D. & Blattner F. R.: Greece, Home of Saffron – Progenitor,

Areas, and Consequences of Triploidy.

3) Astuti G., Liu L., Coppi A. & Peruzzi L.: Different chromosome numbers, but slight

morphological differentiation and genetic admixture among populations of

Pulmonaria hirta complex.

4) Farhat P., Bou Dagher Kharrat M., Adams R., Thierry R. & Siljak-Yakovlev S.:

Polyploidy and hybridization as the main evolutionary driving forces of Juniperus

sabina in its Mediterranean range.

5) Peterson A. & Harpke D.: The Mediterannean basin as secondary speciation

centre of Gagea.

6) Nardi F. D., Alonso-Marcos H., Hülber K., Tribsch A. & Dobeš Ch.: How ploidy

level and mating system influence the ecogeography of amphi-apomictic Potentilla

puberula (Rosaceae).



Greece, Home of Saffron – Progenitor, areas and consequences of triploidy

Zahra Nemati, Dörte Harpke & Frank R. Blattner Experimental Taxonomy, Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK), Gatersleben, Germany.

Crocus sativus, the saffron crocus, is the source of the world’s most expensive spice, which is made from the dried stigmas of the plant. The species is a male-sterile triploid lineage that ever since its origin has been propagated vegetatively. Its mode of evolution and area of origin are matters of long-lasting debates.

To identify saffron’s wild progenitor and the area where it originated, we inferred first the phylogeny of all Crocus series Crocus species and, thus, identified the Greek endemic Crocus cartwrightianus as closest relative of the crop. By analyzing polymorphisms in the chloroplast (obtained through genome skimming) and nuclear genomes (obtained through genotyping-by-sequencing; GBS) in C. cartwrightianus and C. sativus we were able to identify the wild C. cartwrightianus populations in the vicinity of Athens as most similar to saffron. We could place 99.3% of saffron GBS alleles in C. cartwrightianus, indicating that C. sativus is an autotriploid. Heterozygosity rates are similar in both species, which points towards an origin of the triploid through fertilization of an unreduced (2n) egg cell by a haploid (1n) pollen cell. RNA-seq was used to analyze differences between the crop and its wild progenitor in transcription activity of the genes involved in the apocarotenoid biosynthesis pathway of the styles. We found differential transcription levels in these genes between both species but could also identify C. cartwrightianus individuals exhibiting for some of the genes expression patterns, which are quite close to what we see in C. sativus.

In the populations of diploid C. cartwrightianus occur all the distinctive traits of C. sativus like bunchy growing habit, long and red stigmas, and also the typical aroma of saffron. However, we never found these characters combined within single plants in the same way as in saffron. Due to the high genetic diversity in C. cartwrightianus and the species being an obligate outbreeder, its allelic composition is constantly jumbled by genetic recombination. This makes it very unlikely to find in today’s individuals regularly allele combinations characteristic for triploid C. sativus. In contrast, triploid sterility and the vegetative propagation mode of the saffron crocus prevented segregation of the favorable traits of saffron after its origin in Attica, resulting in worldwide cultivation of a unique clonal lineage.


43

XVI OPTIMA Meeting

Different chromosome numbers, but slight morphological differentiation

and genetic admixture among populations of Pulmonaria hirta complex

Giovanni Astuti1, Lijuan Liu1, Andrea Coppi2 & Lorenzo Peruzzi1

1 Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Pisa, via Derna 1, 56126 Pisa, Italy. E-mails:

[email protected], [email protected], [email protected] 2 Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Firenze, Via Micheli 1, 50121 Firenze, Italy. E-mail:

[email protected]

In the genus Pulmonaria, puzzling systematic relationships are evident within closely related and morphologically similar taxa that may naturally hybridize. This is the case of P. hirta L. complex, which includes also P. vallarsae A.Kern. subsp. vallarsae and P. vallarsae subsp. apennina (Cristof. & Puppi) L.Cecchi & Selvi; the latter taxon was treated in other classifications either as a subspecies of P. hirta or as a distinct species. In Italy, P. hirta is confined to the northern-central Apennines, overlapping with P. vallarsae subsp. apennina, which spreads all along Apennines. P. vallarsae subsp. vallarsae is instead limited to some areas of northeastern Italy, being geographically isolated from the other two taxa. Shape, maculation and hairs of summer basal leaves are considered as diagnostic characters for these taxa. We provided here quantitative data to assess the diagnostic value of these characters in both spring and summer, and we reconstructed the relationships among taxa using molecular phylogenetics, population genetics, and karyology. Hence, we collected and cultivated around 200 plants from 11 populations. We measured corolla and calyx, and categorized plants as longistylous or brevistylous. Leaf shape was calculated using elliptic Fourier descriptors subjected to PCA, and both a Discriminant Analysis and a MANOVA were carried out on the effective components. On leaves, we also measured spotted and total areas, as well as length and width, and we counted hairs assigning them to normal, glandular, and microglandular categories. For karyological analysis, we applied Feulgen protocol to root-tips of all plants. Phylogenetic analysis was performed on five individuals for each population using cpDNA and nrDNA markers, whereas AFLP analysis was performed on all plants. Generally, P. vallarsae s.l. showed spring leaves less slender, with base and petiole more distinct than in P. hirta, which had instead a more lanceolate shape with a winged base running into the petiole; no difference was found between the two subspecies of P. vallarsae. Conversely, the other features evaluated were poorly able - or unable - to discriminate the three taxa. This morphological overlapping reflects the massive genotype admixture found in cpDNA, nrDNA and AFLP analyses. Chromosome numbers were instead seemingly constant within populations, and the typical number previously reported for each taxon was confirmed, with the exception of one population attributed to P. vallarsae subsp. apennina that showed 2n = 26, a value intermediate between those of P. vallarsae s.l. (2n = 22) and P. hirta (2n = 28).

mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]



Polyploidy and hybridization as the main evolutionary driving forces

of Juniperus sabina in its Mediterranean range

Perla Farhat1,2, Magda Bou Dagher Kharrat1, Robert Adams3, Thierry Robert2,4, Sonja Siljak-Yakovlev2

1 Laboratoire Biodiversité et Génomique Fonctionnelle, Faculté des Sciences, Université Saint-Joseph, Campus Sciences et Technologies, Mar Roukos, Mkalles, BP: 1514 Riad el Solh, Beirut 1107 2050, Lebanon.

2 Ecologie Systématique Evolution, Univ. Paris-Sud, CNRS, AgroParisTech, Université Paris-Saclay, 91400, Orsay, France.

3 Biology Department, Baylor University, Box 97388, Waco, TX 76798. 4 Biology Department, Sorbonne Université, Jussieu, 75005 Paris, France.

Polyploidy and hybridization are considered to be as major forces for plant

evolution. While polyploidy is estimated to be very rare in conifer, recent investigations have revealed an exceptional rate of polyploidy in Juniperus genus (Cupressaceae). Interestingly, cases of intraspecific variation in ploidy level were detected in this genus notably in Juniperus sabina where earlier just one population has been found to be tetraploid in the Dinaric Alps. Two varieties have been described for this taxon: J. sabina var. sabina and J. sabina var. balkanensis. The latter has been postulated to have arisen from an ancient hybridization between J. thurifera and J. sabina var. sabina. In the French Alps, where J. sabina var. sabina and J. thurifera occur in sympatry, individuals with intermediate morphologies and suspected to be potential hybrids between these two taxa were observed. The aim of this study was to prospect polyploidy and hybridization in J. sabina throughout its large geographical distribution with special focus on the Mediterranean region. Genome size and the ploidy level of 29 populations of Juniperus sabina covering almost its entire geographical distribution were estimated by flow cytometry. Our results showed that J. sabina var. sabina sampled populations were shown to be diploid, whereas J. sabina var. balkanensis populations were all tetraploid. Moreover, the individuals with atypical morphologies were found to be triploids and more probably a first-generation hybrids between the diploid J. sabina var. sabina and the tetraploid J. thurifera. This study highlights the importance of hybridization and polyploidy in the evolution of Juniperus sabina. In this sense, Juniperus represents an interesting model for investigating the importance of gene flow between species in sympatry and their consequences for diversification, evolution and adaptation in this coniferous genus.


45

XVI OPTIMA Meeting

The Mediterranean basin as secondary speciation centre of Gagea

Angela Peterson1 & Doerte Harpke2 1 Institute of Biology, Martin-Luther-University of Halle-Wittenberg, Weinbergweg 10, D-06120

Halle (Saale), Germany. E-mail: [email protected] 2 Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK), OT Gatersleben,

Corrensstrasse 3, D-06466 Stadt Seeland, Germany. E-mail: [email protected]

The Mediterranean region presumable represents a second centre of diversity after southwestern Asia for the monocot genus Gagea (Liliaceae). Nine out of 14 sections of this species-rich (ca. 300 species) genus occur in the Mediterranean. With about 88 % of its species one most of the species-rich sections of the genus, G. sect. Didymobulbos (> 43 species), has its highest diversity there. Molecular and karyological studies showed that this section is characterized by complex hybridization pattern and a high number of polyploids. Although hybridization and polyploidization are also important drivers for speciation in other sections of the genus, they do not possess such a high diversity in the Mediterranean. Thus, the high diversity of G. sect. Didymobulbos in the Mediterranean can probably not be explained by hybridization and polyploidization alone. Therefore, we estimated the ancestral distribution ranges and divergence times of the major lineages (sections) of the genus and reconstructed colonization events. Our analyses were based on three molecular markers (ITS region: ITS1 + 5.8S + ITS2, chloroplast marker: trnL-trnF IGS and psbA-trnH IGS) and included 517 accessions representing about 40 % of the species and all sections of the genus of nearly its entire distribution area. The Mediterranean region was represented by 182 accessions corresponding to 46 species and eight sections of which most accessions (139, representing 32 species) belonged to G. sect. Didymobulbos. The diversification of Gagea most likely started during the Early Miocene/Middle Miocene in southwestern Asia, part of the Irano-Turanian (IT) floristic region. Radiation and migration out of southwestern Asia were mainly driven by Miocene climate changes creating drier and open habitats. Thus, our study supports the importance of the IT floristic region as a source of taxa for neighbouring areas including the Mediterranean. The Mediterranean region was presumable repeatedly colonized in the Miocene and later during the Messinian Salinity Crisis by G. sect. Didymobulbos. Starting from Euro-Siberia the Mediterranean was colonized by representatives of G. sect. Gagea during the Pliocene. Except for Miocene colonization of the Mediterranean by G. sect. Didymobulbos, most other lineages arrived there more recently starting from the Pliocene. According to our data, most of the currently existing species of all sections originated during the last 3 Ma which is connected with the onset of the Mediterranean climate. The arrival in the Mediterranean was followed by extensive in situ speciation, which was presumable driven by hybridization and polyploidization in G. sections Didymobulbos and Gagea. The high species diversity of G. sect. Didymobulbos probably resulted from its much earlier colonization of the Mediterranean in comparison to the colonization by other sections.

javascript:linkTo_UnCryptMailto('nbjmup+%5Cu0020ibsqlfAjql.hbufstmfcfo%5C/ef');



How ploidy level and mating system influence the ecogeography of amphi-

apomictic Potentilla puberula Krašan (Rosaceae)

Flavia Domizia Nardi1,2, Henar Alonso-Marcos1,3, Karl Hülber3, Andreas Tribsch2 & Christoph Dobeš1 1 Department of Forest Genetics, Austrian Research Centre for Forest, Vienna, Austria. 2 Department of Biosciences, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria. 3 Department of Conservation Biology, Vegetation Ecology and Landscape Ecology, University of

Vienna, Vienna, Austria. Corresponding author: [email protected]

Polyploidy is often associated with a shift to asexuality, which – in plants – is usually represented by apomixis (i.e., asexual reproduction via seeds). Both polyploidy and apomixis can directly or indirectly determine changes in the ecological and geographical distribution of a species. However, separating the effects of these two factors can be challenging, as they usually co-occur. In order to understand the role of polyploidy and apomixis on the ecogeography of taxa, we chose Potentilla puberula Krašan (Rosaceae) as a model, a species with reproductive differentiation between sexual tetraploids and apomictic penta- to octoploids. We sampled 238 populations in a transect of the Eastern Alps, where the five cytotypes are sympatric, and we conducted genetic, ecologic, morphologic and reproductive studies to identify the main factor – ploidy level or reproductive mode – differentiating the cytotypes. Sexuals and apomicts resulted slightly differentiated both genetically and ecologically – with apomicts preferring more humid human-made habitats than sexuals, but these differences were not mirrored among apomictic cytotypes, showing that the mating system has a stronger effect than ploidy level on the biology of this species. Competition and reproductive interference can result in a mutual exclusion of sexuals and apomicts which could eventually diverge.


47

XVI OPTIMA Meeting

Symposium 6

Mediterranean Algal Diversity: Past, Present and Future

Organizers: Anna Maria Mannino & Sotiris Orfanidis

Programme

1) Boudouresque C.-F., Blanfuné A., Perret-Boudouresque M., Ruitton S. &

Thibaut Th.: Extinction of Mediterranean macrophyte taxa: local extinctions and

functional extinctions matter.

2) Rodríguez-Prieto C.: Past, present and future of Gigartinales and

Cryptonemiales sensu lato.

3) Rindi F.: Diversity of Mediterranean coralline algae: recent advancements in the

knowledge of a highly threatened group of seaweeds.

4) Panayotidis P. & Tsiamis K.: Diversity and ecology of macroalgae in Eastern

Mediterranean.

5) Kooistra W. H. C. F., Gaonkar C. C., Montresor M., Piredda R., Sarno D. & Zingone

A.: Species diversity and seasonality in the planktonic diatom Chaetoceros

assessed by means of metabarcoding.




Extinction of Mediterranean macrophyte taxa: local extinctions and

functional extinctions matter

Charles-François Boudouresque, Aurélie Blanfuné, Michèle Perret-Boudouresque, Sandrine Ruitt

under the auspices of h.e. the president of the hellenic ... › meetings ›...

Documents